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Did the first month of the season cost Arsenal Champions League football? By Tom Masters With the Premier League season done and dusted last Sunday, it is time to reflect on what ultimately proved to be a slightly disappointing season for Arsenal.  Missing out on Champions League football to rivals Tottenham, after losing to their fiercest rivals and to Newcastle United towards the end of the season, left a bittersweet taste in the mouth. But was it perhaps form earlier on in the season that cost the Arsenal a place among Europe’s elite?  There is a saying in the game that the first month of the season is not going to win you the title but it absolutely can lose you the title, and this can also apply to the Gunners quest for a return to Europe’s premier competition for the first time in five years.  So the question is, did the first month of the season cost Arsenal Champions League football?    What happened?     On Friday 13 August 2021, the new ...

Arsenal's most disappointing defeats this season By James Reid It has been a bit of a rollercoaster for Arsenal this season, and despite all the trials and tribulations the Gunners have a real chance of Champions League football with just four games left to play.   However, while there have been plenty of great results this season, Arsenal have had their fair share of bad results too.   We took a look back at some of the most disappointing defeats this season.  Brentford 2-0 Arsenal   What better place to start than the first game of the season?  The start of a new season always brings fresh and optimism, but that was quickly dampened by defeat to newly-promoted Brentford on the first day of term.  Sergi Canos opened the scoring in Brentford’s first ever Premier League game just after 20 minutes and Christian Norgaard scored after the break to cap a nightmare start to the season for Arsenal. The Gunners never looked like really troubling Brentford who were ...

By Tom Masters Arsenal take on Brentford this week as the business end of the Premier League approaches.  The Gunners will hope to earn three valuable points as they look to return to Champions League action after five seasons out of the competition.  Ahead of their clash with the Bees at the Emirates Stadium, we look at three Bees players who Mikel Arteta should look to sign in the summer.  Ivan Toney  The Gunners have not kept it secret that they are in the hunt for at least one striker this summer after Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s departure to FC Barcelona in January.  The Gabonese forward leaving has left Arteta with just two recognised strikers in the squad in Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah; Lacazette’s contract comes to an end this summer, meaning it is entirely possible that Arsenal will be left with just Nketiah to lead their line.  Toney is Brentford’s top scorer this season with six goals and Arteta is known to be an admirer of the 25-year-...

State of play after Arsenal's first two months of Premier League action in 2021/22 By Josh Graham Mikel Arteta’s men got off to a horrendous start in August. His Arsenal side slumped to three consecutive Premier League defeats in the first month of the new campaign, but things are looking up in September and the doom and gloom appears to be shifting away from North London. Here’s a look back at how things have gone at the beginning of the 2021/22 season. August It was always going to be a tricky start for the Gunners away at Premier League new boys and London rivals Brentford. Thomas Frank’s side could not have been more up for the game that marked their return to the English top flight after 74 years. And the new Brentford Community Stadium was bouncing as goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard sealed a 2-0 win in the very first game of the season.  New £50million defender Ben White came in for criticism after the match with Emile Smith Rowe’s performance on...

Gabriel Martinelli playing in Arsenal's 2-0 loss against Brentford last Friday Which youngsters deserve a shot against West Brom in the Carabao Cup?  Arsenal’s 2021-22 Premier League campaign began poorly last Friday, with a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Brentford providing a far from the ideal start.  And things don’t get any easier for the Gunners, with a match next Sunday against Chelsea and then a clash against reigning league champions Manchester City the following weekend. However, there is also the matter of next Wednesday’s EFL Cup second round fixture against West Brom to contend with. With less than 72 hours in between that match at The Hawthorns and a 12:30 kickoff at The Etihad the following Saturday, Mikel Arteta will likely rest several key players with a strong league campaign desired by fans and the club.  Most top-flight clubs targeting European places generally use the EFL Cup as a chance to give younger players experience, and Arteta is unlikely to t...

  Arsenal v Brentford Player Ratings Arsenal kicked off the Premier League season with an incredibly disappointing 2-0 defeat to new boys Brentford. With fans back and in full voice at the Brentford Community Stadium, Mikel Arteta’s men had no answer to Thomas Frank’s inspired Bees. Goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard ensured Arsenal made the short journey back across London empty handed.  Here’s how we rated the players. Bernd Leno - 4/10 The German goalkeeper potentially did not see all of Canos’ shot but he should not be getting beaten so easily at his near post.  Not a very calm presence at the back on the ball, plenty of room for improvement. One save from Bryan Mbuemo reminded Gooners what the No.1 is capable of. Calum Chambers - 3 Should not have let Canos cut inside so easily and was slow to close him down. Did not show he is the answer at right-back with very little offensive threat. Ben White - 5 Not the dream Premier League debut for his new club he w...

Who are Arsenal's greatest late signings? By Peter White It barely seems five minutes since Arsenal rounded off a disappointing 2020/21 campaign with a 2-0 win at home to Brighton in May, but today marks the Gunners' return to Premier League action.  Boss Mikel Arteta will be vying to improve on a miserly eighth-place finish last time out, that saw the 13-time English champions fail to qualify for European competition for the first time since the 1994-95 season.  But a fresh start paves the way for fresh hope, and an away clash at newly-promoted Brentford under the Friday night lights will offer a glimmer of what to expect from the north Londoners in the Spaniard’s second full season in charge.  Arsenal’s cause this year will be aided by the recruitment of new signings Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares, but with over two weeks to go until the August 31 transfer window deadline, the Emirates faithful are hopeful of further additions being made.  Earlier...

  Arsenal – what have we learned from pre-season? By Jack Lacey-Hatton It only feels five minutes since Euro 2020, but incredibly we are just one week away from the new Premier League season starting. Arsenal will travel to newly promoted Brentford for a London derby in front of a noisy crowd next Friday night, not the easiest of starts to the new campaign. But what sort of shape are Mikel Arteta’s side in, going into what could be a defining season for the manager? We took a close look at what we have learnt from the pre-season period and what kind of shape the squad are in.   The new signings are ready to go It has been a mixed transfer window so far. Some fans would have expected more both leaving and arriving at the Emirates stadium over the summer. But positives can be taken - Ben White has arrived from Brighton for £50million, and highly-rated full back Nuno Tavares has come in from Benfica. Albert Sambi Lokonga completes the 2021 summer singings so far. Cruc...

Brentford striker Ivan Toney could be the man to revitalise the Arsenal frontline, with the Gunners showing an interest in the striker By Adam Le Roux It can be easy to forget after comfortable victories like the one against Newcastle on Monday night, but scoring goals has still been Arsenal Achilles’ heel throughout this season.  A brace for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and another strike for Bukayo Saka sealed the deal against the Magpies, as the Gunners struck three times at the Emirates for just the second league game this season.  With 23 goals plundered from their 19 Premier League matches in the current campaign, Mikel Arteta’s side currently have the lowest return from any side in the top half of the league, and need to turn that stat around quickly if they are to challenge for a European spot later in the year.  That brace for Aubameyang puts him on five league goals for the season, while Alexandre Lacazette leads the way with seven domestic goals to his name, but ...